The Minnesota Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. The court hears cases in the Supreme Court chamber in the Minnesota State Capitol or in the nearby Minnesota Judicial Center.

History

The court was first assembled as a three-judge panel in 1849 when Minnesota was still a territory. The first members were lawyers from outside the region, appointed by President Zachary Taylor. The court system was rearranged when Minnesota became a state in 1858. Appeals from Minnesota District Courts went directly to the Minnesota Supreme Court until the Minnesota Court of Appeals, an intermediate

appellate court An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appel ...

, was created in 1983 to handle most of those cases. The court now considers about 900 appeals per year and accepts review in about one in eight cases. Before the Court of Appeals was created, the Minnesota Supreme Court handled about 1,800 cases a year. Certain appeals can go directly to the Supreme Court, such as those involving taxes, first degree murder, and workers' compensation.

Composition

200px, Interior The seven justices of the Minnesota Supreme Court are elected to renewable six-year terms. When a midterm vacancy occurs, the governor of Minnesota appoints a replacement to a term that ends after the general election occurring more than one year after the appointment. Most vacancies occur during a term. The most recent election to an open seat on the court was in 1992, when former Minnesota Vikings player

Alan Page Alan Cedric Page (born August 7, 1945) is an American former Minnesota Supreme Court judge and professional American football, football player for the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears. He was the NFL's MVP in 1971. He was awarded the Presid ...

was elected. Judges in Minnesota have a mandatory retirement age of 70. In 1977, Rosalie E. Wahl became the first woman to serve on the Court. In 1993,

became the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

to serve on the Court. Anne McKeig, a descendant of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, became the first Native American justice in 2016. Her appointment also marked the second time the court had a majority of women since 1991. In May 2020, Governor Tim Walz announced the appointment of Nobles County District Judge Gordon Moore, who replaced retiring Justice David Lillehaug.

Salary

The salary for the Supreme Court Chief Justice is $205,362 and $186,692 for associate justices.

Members

Notable cases

* '' Baker v. Nelson'', 291 Minn. 310, 191 N.W.2d 185 (1971), in which the Court held that denial of the statutory entitlement demanded by gay citizens to marry the adult of one's choice does not offend the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

; overturned by '' Obergefell v. Hodges'', . * ''Doe v. Gomez'', 27 Minn. 542 N.W.2d 17 (1995), in which the Court held that the right of privacy under the Minnesota Constitution includes the right to an

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

and that the Minnesota government may not deny funding for abortion while funding other pregnancy-related medical services.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Minnesota state courts State supreme courts of the United States 1858 establishments in Minnesota Courts and tribunals established in 1858 1849 establishments in Minnesota Territory Courts and tribunals established in 1849